An interior of a vehicle, such as an automobile, may include a plurality of safety systems to absorb energy from an occupant during a vehicle impact. For example, the vehicle may include a seat belt attached to a seat and to a vehicle pillar. The vehicle may further include one or more airbags that expand from an instrument panel, a vehicle roof, a vehicle door, etc. The seat belt and the airbags may be configured to absorb energy and soften impact between the body of the occupant and the instrument panel or the door.
In an autonomous vehicle, the occupant may face away from a vehicle-forward direction. Furthermore, when more than one occupant is in the vehicle, each occupant may face a different direction. During the vehicle impact, each occupant may move in a direction dependent on the direction each occupant faced prior to the impact and the direction of the force applied by the vehicle impact. There remains an opportunity to design an energy absorber for the autonomous vehicle when the occupants face differing directions.